Why Haverty Furniture Shares Popped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Haverty Furniture were up 10% today after the company posted a solid earnings report.

So what: Haverty's fourth-quarter results showed $182.3 million in revenue and $0.30 in earnings per share. The company posted an 8.4% growth in net sales for the quarter and 6% increase in same-store sales. For the full year, Haverty's revenue clocked in at $670 million, and its full-year EPS was $0.76. The company managed a 7.9% increase in net sales for the full year, and a vague report on quarter-to-date progress for 2013 shows a roughly 14% gain in both orders and delivered sales over the year-ago quarter. The results prompted analyst Budd Bugatch to raise his price target to $20, as it had previously been set at a level Haverty broke through today.

Now what: Haverty is making consistent strides forward and is yet another company benefiting from renewed strength in the housing market. The stock's 1% dividend yield doesn't hurt, either.

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Editor's note: A prior version of this article mentioned a special dividend. Haverty Furniture gave out a special dividend in the fourth quarter of 2012, not the current quarter. The Fool regrets the error.